Wood finishing forum for professional finishers

In the earlier post I hadn’t really done much with the water based conversion varnish now that a few months have passed I have some more results to post and some pictures.

I really like this stuff and have begun to sell it in quantities. First thing you should know is that it is now not Renner But Rexcel, has made it all along however we were buying it though Renner; In a mutual agreement with Renner USA we are now buying it direct from the factory which is right here in the USA, Texas as a matter of fact.

This is a single part material that you can catalyze for additional hardness, although I have found that it is not necessary, When you do add the hardener you are not giving it a pot life, normally when you have a product you have to add a catalyst to, you have only a certain amount of time to use the material before it becomes hard, with this you don’t have that problem. Add the cross linker ( that is what you call a catalyst for a water based product) today and if you don’t use all the materials today it won’t go bad on you just add more cross linker tomorrow.

Ok, it goes on smooth, I had some trouble with orange peel but that sorted out easily with the proper application of water-based retarder and then it dries quickly. The day I sprayed the panels you are about to see it was raining out side and I was spraying under a canopy that was wide open on two sides. I wasn’t getting rained on but I wasn’t inside by any means. I had no troubles with Blushing and it dried reasonably quickly which was surprising for a water based product on a cold and rainy day.

Several days later I demonstrated this material to a party rental place that normally uses solvent Conversion Varnish and it went on very smoothly with out retarder needed, The finish looked great and was very hard but the one issue I had was that the sheen died down after drying fully this was dark black mix on party chairs.

Ok I tell people about the materials that I recommend and why I recommend them I don’t say things about materials that have haven’t observed. I have found the hard way that it is a year or two down the line where you find out what holds up and what doesn’t.

So here is the test that I am conducting:

I have two coats of the Rexcel conversion coating on three pieces of crown molding. As you can see here.

They were sprayed out in January by myself. I have let them cure for a few weeks and now have placed them in my shower to accelerate the wet /dry cycle that cabinets go through.

Here is a close up of the back of one of the panels: as you can see this panel was given the two coats and no cross linker.

The Back of the Panel

Now, here is the test: in the next picture you will see these three panels in my shower, two of them are in the back of the shower and the third one is up in the front of the shower. The panels in the back are going to simulate the normal amount of water that kitchen cabinets get in front of the sink. A light mist of water twice a day that is not cleaned off.

The third panels is in the front of the shower and is going to get a hosing daily, twice daily. My wife and I use this shower daily.

Yup, this is my Shower

Here is the final picture of the panel that is going to get a soaking daily, we’ll see how long it takes for these panels to show water damage.

panel in the front of the shower

So far after three days in the shower they are showing no signs of wear or water damage. if they did at this point that would be extremely discouraging and I probably wouldn’t carry the product.

Some one told me they did a similar test, but like the Kitchen Cabinet Manufactures Association, they smeared different household products on their panels and found that of all things, tooth paste took off the coating. So at some later point we’ll try some tooth past and see what that does to our Rexcel coating.

If you have questions and or need help with a particular coating send me an e-mail and I’ll see what we can do to point you in the right direction. I would love to hear back from any of the readers.

Ultra Wood Coatings is a new company that has taken over the old American Wood finishing production plant in down town LA. They have some really nice products that we are bringing in. I’ll tell you about the products but first let me tell you about the Company. There are three principles in the company, all of whom I was very impressed with, they are Professionals and Chemists with a passion to doing things better more efficient and to a higher standard, the Third member of the Trio is a former R and D Chemist of Valspar who has recently come out of retirement after completing his 7 year non-compete obligation with Valspar.

This chemist had now formulated line of products that have Higher volume solids ( that means you can cover more square footage with the comparable amount) and is very fast drying.

I have sprayed out the 275 water white and it has passed me expectations. It dries quickly and doesn’t have the same tendency to blush as does the Valspar. You of course can thin and retard it as you need to.

One of my bigger complaints with Valspar was that it was so thin that you had to layer on 10 coats to get a decent coverage. The other thing that I didn’t like about Valspar was it’s tendency to yellow. that’s why I switched out main brand to Simpson. Simpson was and had been a good lacquer but they have been consistently un-able to deliver product on time, after fighting, pleading and begging to have materials sent to me on time I have finally had to cut my losses and have gone else where to find a high quality aaffordable lacquer.

Ultra is a gift from Heaven, they are local and so know the issues the Californian finisher faces ,Unlike some of the other national brand manufactures that have no clue what or how their 275 Lacquer preforms. having toured there facility I found that they are very attentive to quality control.

The next thing about Ultra is that they are Local so if I run out of stock I can go down and pick it up. If they don’t have a batch made I know who to talk to.

The next thing, Pricing the pricing we have from them is fantastic;

Water white 275 $98 for a 5 gallon pail

Water white 275 sealer $96 for a 5 gallon pail

White undercoat $96 for a 5 gallon pail

White Top coat $104 for a 5 gallon pail

These are phenomenal prices and for a good product.

Call me if you are in the area and would like me to come by and spray out a sample for you. Try it you’ll like it.

We also have a 550 that is legal to use providing you only consume no more than a gallon a day that is only $88.90 a five.

Greg Saunders
Annex Paint
818-439-9297

Have you tried the Ultra wood coating product and like them ? leave me a review and I’ll bring you a bottle of titebond II wood glue.